NM State women’s soccer takes 3-1 victory over UNM in battle of I-25

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The Aggies earned their first win of the 2024 season with a 3-1 victory over in-state rival UNM on Sunday, Aug. 18 at the NM State Soccer Complex. The Aggies scored three goals on the day, their most against the Lobos in program history.

“Just coming off a big game against USC sometimes it’s hard to have a rivalry game like that as your very next game, I think the girls did a really great job of taking the moment off of USC right into the start of this game,” said Head Coach Rob Baarts. “We jumped on them and got a good lead; we lost a bit of the play but battled back and took control. That leadership that we gained from the past two games is just going to propel us into the next 15 games.

NM State wasted no time in asserting themselves in the bout against their in-state rival – scoring the game’s first goal in the third minute of action. After bringing the ball up the left side, Ariana Leamons played a ball into the box where Loma McNeese deflected the ball to Meredith Scott who poked the ball past the goalie from just a few yards out. This marked Scott’s second goal in two games and third in her career.

Less than 10 minutes later, Leamons made her second impact play of the game, scoring herself. After coming up with a steal, Leamons entered the attacking zone unmarked and used her left foot to bend a ball into the top right corner of the goal from nearly 30 yards out.

With a two-goal lead in hand, the Aggie offense remained on the attack as Shila Rasoul benefited from another misplayed ball by the Lobo defense. Rasoul smashed the ball trickling above the 18-yard box to hand NM State a 3-0 lead in front of their home crowd.

Finally, UNM showed some resistance as it scored its first goal of the match in the 28 ^th minute to draw back within two goals before the end of the half.

Through the first 45 minutes of action, the Aggies led the Lobos 3-1. UNM however led the Aggies in shots with six compared to the Aggies’ three and Corner Kicks with three compared to the two corner kicks from the Aggies. In the first half the Aggies led the Lobos in fouls with nine fouls to the Lobos four fouls.

In the last 45 minutes of action, there was no scoring. However, Goalkeeper Valerie Guha recorded her first save of the year and 54th save of her career in the 48 ^th minute of the match. Shortly after the save, Mya Hammack received her a yellow card.

After Hammack’s yellow card, UNM received one of their own in the 61 ^st minute of play. Both McNeese and Brooke Schultz recorded a shot in the second half both off goal just over the crossbar. McNeese recorded her second shot of the game in the 87 ^th minute.

UNM recorded eight shots with two on goal while NM State had six shots with three on goal. There was only one save on the day coming from Guha in the second half. UNM led the Aggies in Corner Kicks with five while the Aggies only had five. In a physical battle, the Aggies recorded 15 fouls while the Lobos recorded nine.

Up next the Aggies will host their second Big Ten Opponent, Oregon, on Thursday, Aug. 22 at 7 p.m. MT at the NM State Soccer Athletic Complex.

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